ASSEMBLY, No. 4838
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
218th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED JANUARY 15, 2019
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman P. CHRISTOPHER TULLY
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblywoman LISA SWAIN
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman VINCENT MAZZEO
District 2 (Atlantic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Armato, Assemblywoman Downey, Assemblymen Freiman, Houghtaling, DeAngelo, Assemblywomen Murphy, McKnight, Lopez, Timberlake, Assemblymen Conaway, Calabrese and Assemblywoman Jimenez
SYNOPSIS
Requires telecommunications, cable television, and Internet service providers to allow service recipients to terminate service contracts following a physician’s referral to long-term care facility.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As amended by the General Assembly on June 10, 2019.
An Act allowing certain telecommunications service recipients to terminate service 1[agreements] contracts1 following a physician’s referral to certain long-term care facilities and supplementing Title 56 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A service provider doing business in this State shall 1[be prohibited from entering into any new contract, or renew any existing contract, to provide] allow a service recipient to terminate a contract for1 telecommunications service, cable television service, or Internet connection service 1[to a service recipient unless the contract includes provisions that allow the service recipient to terminate the contract in accordance with] pursuant to1 subsection b. of this section.
b. (1) A 1[contract to provide telecommunications service, cable television service, or Internet connection]1 service 1provider1 shall permit a service recipient to terminate, without 1[penalty] incurring an early termination fee1, the contract for those services 1[at any time]1 after the service recipient receives a physician's order, or develops a plan of care in collaboration with a physician responsible for the care of the service recipient, to relocate the service recipient to a long-term care facility for a period of at least 90 days, if the service recipient relocates to a long-term care facility that meets the description in the physician’s order or the plan of care.
(2) 1[If a service recipient terminates a contract as described in paragraph (1) of this subsection, the service provider under the contract shall provide the service recipient terminating the contract with written or electronic notice of the service recipient's rights under P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill)] The service recipient shall, unless waived or not required by the service provider, provide the service provider with no less than 45 days’ notice prior to the requested date of the contract termination or cancellation; provided, however, a service provider shall waive the notice requirement and permit the termination within 48 hours if a physician’s order requires immediate relocation to a long-term care facility1.
(3) 1[Termination of a contract under paragraph (1) of
this subsection shall be made by] A service provider may require written proof of
a service recipient’s relocation to a long-term facility. If the service
provider requires written proof, then the1 delivery of a written notice to the service
provider of the 1requested contract1 termination and a letter signed by the service
recipient’s physician 1[that describes
the physician’s order or the plan of care for the service recipient to relocate to a long-term care facility, delivered by certified mail], no later than 45 days prior to the requested date of termination, attesting that the requirements established pursuant to this subsection are met, shall be deemed sufficient proof1.
(4) 1[Not later than 60 days after the effective date of the termination of a contract under this subsection, the service provider under the contract shall refund to the service recipient any fee or other amount to the extent paid for a period extending until after the date, including any amount, on a prorated basis, for the remainder of the billing period in which the termination occurs] Nothing in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall relieve a service recipient of an obligation to return equipment to the service provider or to be charged a lawful unreturned equipment charge nor shall a service recipient be relieved from any amounts owed for any equipment purchased by the service recipient1.
c. For purposes of this section:
"Assisted living facility" means an assisted living residence or comprehensive personal care home licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).
"Cable television company" and “cable television service” shall have the same meaning as provided in section 3 of P.L.1972, c.186 (C.48:5A-3).
“Certified mail” shall have same meaning as provided in R.S.1:1-2.
"Dementia care home" means a community residential facility which: (1) provides services to residents with special needs, including, but not limited to, persons with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders or other forms of dementia; (2) is subject to the licensure authority of the Department of Health as a health care facility pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.); (3) and meets the requirements of section 19 of P.L.2015, c.125 (C.26:2H-150).
"Internet service provider" shall have same meaning as provided in section 3 of P.L.2007, c.272 (C.56:8-170).
"Long-term care facility" means a nursing home, assisted living residence, comprehensive personal care home, residential health care facility, or dementia care home licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).
"Physician" means a physician authorized by law to practice medicine in this or any other state and any other person authorized by law to treat sick and injured human beings in this or any other state.
“Service provider” means a telecommunications service provider, a cable television company, or an Internet service provider.
“Service recipient” means any individual who resides in this State who receives telecommunications service, cable television service, or Internet service from a service provider through equipment that is located in this State.
"Telecommunications service provider" means any person, business or organization qualified to do business in this State that provides a telecommunications service that is subject to regulation by the Board of Public Utilities pursuant to Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the 1[seventh] twelfth1 month next following enactment.